June 19, 2012 Issue #075
Oh, no! We've been on
the wrong road!
Sorry, fellow singletons! We've been on the wrong road for the past five months! I thought we wanted to go to Happyville, but I was mistaken. (First time for that…Ha!)
As it turns out, happiness isn't what we're after at all. We want joy.
Happiness comes and goes. Our life is like a roller coaster, with happiness at the peaks and unhappiness in the valleys. And who wants to live a roller coaster life?
Joy, on the other hand, is constant and enduring. You can know joy in both the ups and downs of life, and believe me, we singles have plenty of those. Joy is deep. It's a feeling of contentment and the knowledge that no matter what goes wrong, we have Someone to sustain us.
This month we're looking at how we get onto the wrong roads in life, and how we get back on the right one. Don't worry! We haven't been traveling in vain. We found out in time where we don't want to go, so we've made a course correction.
Reprogram your GPS! Here's the first installment on our Journey to Joy Town…
I'm glad that I'm me
Too many years of squinting in mirrors,
trying to change what I saw.
Too many nights of singular fights,
socking myself to a draw.
But that's in my past; I've escaped it at last.
I've finally grabbed onto the truth.
I have a treasure beyond earthly measure,
more cool than the Fountain of Youth.
I wouldn't trade places with botoxified faces
Photoshopped in those slick magazines.
I'll take my own body though it's squishy and knotty
and tends to bulge over my jeans.
I reached a decision in a cosmic collision
that hit like a boxcar of bricks.
The answer was plain and I had to refrain
from responding with my old bag of tricks.
"Do you want real love from God up above
or the counterfeit from here below?"
I made up my mind that I'd leave far behind
all the noise from the world's puppet show.
There's no more struggle in trying to juggle
another "You must conform" decree.
My life is so fine because His joy is mine.
I'm finally glad that I'm me!
~ Jack Zavada, 2012 ~
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June Quotonormous
June's quote comes from Jerry Bridges, Christian author, speaker, and staff member of the Navigators:
True joy comes only from God and He shares this joy with those who walk in fellowship with Him.
~ Jerry Bridges (1929- ) ~
Aha! Now that's the right road! Joy! And Mr. Bridges knows the truth about where to find it. We think we can find it in work, in sports, even in a relationship with another person, but those of us who have tried all those know the feeling we get from those things is, at best, a pale imitation.
That's the mystery--and the beauty of God--he is the only hunger that satisfies. He gives us what we need and yet we can never get enough of him. This is the secret of contentment that beats happiness in every way, shape and form.
The ebook no single wants to read!
Are you like me? Do you ignore some problems, hoping they'll go away on their own?
Lots of singles are like that. We don't have anyone nagging us or encouraging us to do what we know we should do. Nobody likes to go to the dentist, but if you know what's good for you, you go.
It's the same way with Outsmarting Loneliness, my ebook that will help you face your loneliness problem and get it under control. And we all have a loneliness problem. It's part of being human.
The next time you're sitting home alone feeling lousy, you can keep beating yourself up, or you can get this $7.97 ebook and deal with it like the grown-up you are!
What's inside Outsmarting Loneliness? Check out the contents here…
Journey to Joy Town!
Okay, we're on the right road now, fellow singletons! Happyville is a nice place to visit, but we don't want to live there. Our destination is Joy Town, here on earth and there in the hereafter.
Read what some of your fellow travelers have said on their way to Joy Town:
It's about time we stopped buying things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.
~ Adrian Rogers ~
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
~ G.K. Chesterton ~
When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.
~ Corrie Ten Boom ~
The greatest thing a man can do for his Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children.
~ Henry Drummond ~
Since God intends to make you like Jesus, he will take you through the same experiences Jesus went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems.
~ Rick Warren ~
All growth that is not toward God, is growing to decay.
~ George Macdonald ~
Next to faith this is the highest art - to be content with the calling in which God has placed you.
~ Martin Luther ~
God never promises to remove us from our struggles. He does promise, however, to change the way we look at them.
~ Max Lucado ~
With the power of God within us, we need never fear the powers around us.
~ Woodrow Kroll ~
As you walk through the valley of the unknown, you will find the footprints of Jesus both in front of you and beside you.
~ Charles Stanley ~
Changes are coming to i-f-s.com!
By the time you read this, I will be making the first of many changes to www.inspiration-for-singles.com.
Way back in October 2011, Google's Panda algorithm hit the site hard, knocking out nearly 40% of my traffic. This Spring, Google's Penguin dropped it even more. I have to make some repairs to the site's structure, links, and content to try to climb back. Now I finally have a new tool to do that with.
What you will notice is a new, more attractive design, easier navigation, and a third column on the right. With 328 pages to update, it's a mammoth undertaking, but I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm hoping to eventually upgrade Inspire-O-Gram as well, but first things first. I'll keep you updated on changes at i-f-s through this newsletter.
As we reroute from Happyville to Joy Town, you can email your comments to me using our detour-free contact form.
That's it for the June issue, single friends. I hope you're enjoying your summer, your life, and the God who loves you!
Until July,
Jack Zavada
www.inspiration-for-singles.com
401 Indiana Ave
Streator, IL 61364
USA
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